We have seen during the past few years a highly significant change in social recognition of the problems of alcohol use and abuse, with a concomitant intensification of scientific efforts to understand these problems. Until recently, only a small number of pioneering investigators have done research in this field, but the present situation provides a powerful stimulus to widen the involvement of investigators from many disciplines. Within psychiatry, alcoholism has not received the attention it deserves, either in research or in education. That situation is now changing for the better. With this set of proposals we intend to mount a major interdisciplinary effort in research and education on alcohol problems. The main thrust is in clinical investigations dealing directly with difficulties arising in connection with excessive and inappropriate use of alcohol. It seems likely that the ultimate clarification of such a complex disorder as alcoholism will depend on a broad base of scientific understanding. Investigators concerned with alcoholism must search persistently for the relevance of newly emerging information on brain, behavior, and social environment. We believe that complex interactions of psychosocial and biological processes will prove to be crucial in understanding alcoholism. In order to elucidate such complex relationships it should be helpful to provide an environment for research training in which experienced workers from various disciplines can readily work together. Part 1 of 9.